Apalachicola Reserve, Florida

Site Description

Flora (plant life) Fauna (animal life) Endangered Species Tidal Range & River Flow Soil Types Geology

The Apalachicola Estuary is a lagoon and barrier island complex. It has been classified as a shallow coastal plain estuary oriented in an east-west direction. Because of the placement of the barrier island complex, it could be called a coastal lagoon.

The Apalachicola Reserve's habitats include barrier island, estuarine, riverine, floodplain and upland environments. Major estuarine habitats found within the reserve include oyster bars, submerged vegetation, tidal flats, soft sediment, marshes and open water. Upland habitats include sandhills, coastal scrub, pine flatwoods and mixed hardwood communities. Wetland habitats include fresh water marsh, salt marsh, riverine, lacustrine, palustrine, open bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Finally, the floodplain forest of mixed hardwoods, tupelo-cypress with mixed hardwoods, pine and mixed hardwoods and willow thickets create some of the most pristine bottomland forests in the southeastern United States. Major vegetative communities on the islands include beach/dune, slash pine flatwoods, oak-rosemary scrub and tidal marsh.